


Sunny Day

by houdini74



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Committed Relationship, Fluff and Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-22
Updated: 2019-03-22
Packaged: 2019-11-27 11:55:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18194264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/houdini74/pseuds/houdini74
Summary: David convinces Patrick to skip out on his tax seminar.





	Sunny Day

“Well, we’re definitely not getting Alexis to do it! Not after what happened last time!” David exclaimed.

“Maybe your mom…?” Patrick suggested tentatively. They both imagined Mrs Rose looking after the store.

“No, no, no, no, no. Nope.” they said to each other in unison.

“You know, Twyla was saying that her cousin was out of work. Maybe we could hire her for the day?” Patrick stopped short at the look of horror on David’s face. “No, you’re right. That’s a terrible idea.”

“I think our only choices are Stevie…”

“...who will make us pay, one way or another.” David interrupted.

“Or your dad…”

“...who will probably misinterpret something and cause some sort of crisis.”

“Flip a coin?” Patrick suggested with a pained look on his face.

In the end, Stevie agreed to look after the store in exchange for a couple of bottles of wine. They met her at Rose Apothecary in the morning so that David could give her some instructions.

“...and I think this goes without saying, but no sex in our store!” 

“Thank you for telling me.” Stevie said dryly, “Now I’ll have to cancel the orgy I had planned for this afternoon.”

“You’re very funny,” David replied.

“C’mon David, Stevie’s not going to have sex in our store,” Patrick said, pulling on his arm to get him moving towards the door.

“Hey, you don’t know that,” Stevie responded.

“You’re really not helping,” Patrick said as he pushed David out the door.

“We need to find a better solution,” Patrick said once they were in the car and headed down the road to Elmdale. “It would be nice to have an option for when we both want to be away from the store at the same time.”

“Mmm hmm,” David replied. 

“David?” Patrick glanced over to see that David was intently scrolled on his phone.

“Sorry, I was just planning my best route through the show.” 

Patrick had been scheduled to take the second half of his tax seminar since July, so when David had learned that the Elmdale Arts and Craft Show was on the same day, he’d decided to come along to see if he could connect with new vendors for the store.

After David dropped him off, Patrick settled into his seat in the meeting room at the Elmdale Convention Centre. He wasn’t really in the mood to learn about tax exemptions, he would much rather be spending the day with David. With a sigh, he turned his attention to powerpoint presentation at the front of the room. 

Moments later, his phone vibrated with a text from David. He opened it to find a photo of the ugliest vase he’d ever seen. It looked like it was about two feet tall, orange glass covered with irregular brown and yellow splotches.

David almost never asked his advice about the vendors he selected for the store, so Patrick knew that he was probably just trying to get a reaction from him. He snapped a photo of the powerpoint on the screen which featured an in-depth example of accounting procedures for tax exemptions and texted it to David.

There was no response from David, so Patrick turned back to the seminar. The presenter had moved on to talking about the differences between taxable and non-taxable income. Patrick felt his attention wandering. His phone vibrated again, buzzing to announce a series of text messages. The older woman sitting next to Patrick frowned and huffed in annoyance. 

“Sorry,” Patrick whispered to her as he opened the messages.

There were half a dozen messages from David, all of them photos, each one more ridiculous than the last. 

A painting of a horse that somehow looked like its legs were four different lengths.

A knitted sweater with appliqued kittens on the front. Maybe Jocelyn would like that, he thought.

A sculpture made from old tractor parts.

Patrick squinted at the last photo, unsure what he was looking at. Was that a bedazzled toilet plunger? He had to press his lips together to keep from laughing out loud.

Before he could respond, another text came through from David. 

**10:53 am: I wish you were here to see this with me.**

Patrick looked towards the front of the room. The presenter had moved on to talking about financial statements. Out the window on the side of the room, Patrick could see that it was a glorious sunny day. He texted David. 

10:57 am: Come get me.

He shoved his things into his portfolio case and stood up to leave.

“Emergency with my business partner,” he said to woman next to him as she gave him yet another look of disapproval. 

David was pulling up out front as Patrick came out of the door of the Convention Centre. Patrick slid into the passenger seat and leaned over to kiss him hello. 

“I can’t believe you’re skipping out on the seminar,” David said mockingly. “Now how will we know about tax exemptions?”

“I couldn’t miss out on the great works of art that you were discovering. I had to make sure we got some of those amazing plungers for the store.”

David rolled his eyes but he leaned over to kiss Patrick again. “I’m glad you decided to come with me.”

The drove into downtown Elmdale. The art show was being held outdoors, in a central public square that was lined with trees. It was a regular venue for small concerts and other performances, and it was filled with people shopping at the market and enjoying the sunshine.

Despite the terrible items that David had texted him, many of the vendors had products that fit with the brand of their store. David talked with a number of new vendors, promising to follow up over the next week. Patrick loved seeing David chatting with the different sellers. He was charming and confident, explaining the vision of the store and talking at length with each person about what made their products unique. 

As David began a new conversation with a seller who made handmade soap, Patrick leaned over to him and murmured, “I’ll be right back.”

He headed into the market, wanting to talk to a couple of vendors that he’d spotted on the way in. He made arrangements with them before heading back to where he’d left David. David was talking with a woman who made wooden cutting boards and rolling pins. The wooden items were polished to a soft shine, each one with a geometric design of contrasting woods. As though he could feel Patrick watching him, David looked up and met his eyes. Something tender and soft stretched between them for a moment before David returned to his conversation. 

He smiled as Patrick came closer and handed him one of the cutting boards.

“Aren’t these beautiful? We’re going to try a three month trial.” Patrick grinned, he’d finally convinced David to use trial periods with their new vendors and it was working out very well for the store.

After meeting with a number of other sellers, they made their way back to the entrance of the market. 

“What are we going to do now? It seems like it would be a shame to waste the one day that you’ve decided to be irresponsible,” David said.

Patrick looked across the street. The Elmdale Art House stood on the corner. He pointed to the marquee.

“It looks like one of the films you wanted to see is still playing, we could watch a movie?”

It appeared that matinees of French art films at the Elmdale Art House weren’t very popular and the theatre was nearly empty. The previews were playing as they found their seats. As usual, David insisted they sit in the back row because he didn’t like people sitting behind him. When they settled into their seats and David put his arm around him, Patrick suddenly felt like he was fourteen again. 

David must have it sensed what he was feeling, he tightened the arm around Patrick’s neck, pulling him close and kissing him on the check before whispering in his ear. 

“Wanna make out with me?”

“David!” Patrick hissed back at him. He was both shocked and amused and if he dared to admit it, a little turned on. His teenage self, who had never had the chance to make out with cute boys in the back of a movie theatre, was definitely interested in what David was proposing. David had moved his lips to a spot behind Patrick’s ear and was kissing him softly. Patrick inhaled sharply and moved to rest his hand on David’s thigh. 

“We really shouldn’t do this here,” he murmured. The other three people who were watching the film were much closer to the front of the theatre, but idea that one of them might turn around and spot them made him flush both with anxiety and desire. 

David made his way along Patrick’s jawline before bringing his hand up to the back of Patrick’s neck and kissing him gently. The grown-up part of Patrick stopped protesting and he opened his lips to allow David to kiss him more deeply. 

David pulled away suddenly. “The movie’s starting!”

“God, David,” Patrick whispered, his voice rough. He knew that making out in the Elmdale Art House theatre was a really bad idea, but all he wanted was to go back to kissing David. He saw David smirking at him and knew that he was deliberately provoking him. In retaliation, he ran his fingers slowly up the inseam of David’s jeans. David laughed softly, before grabbing his hand and lacing their fingers together.

After the film, they emerged into the bright sunshine of the afternoon, their hands still twined together.

“What do you want to do now?” Patrick asked.

They walked around the edge of the square, stopping occasionally to look at the different artisans or in the store windows.

“What do you want to do?” David asked. “The film was my thing, we can do something you like.”

“I like this,” Patrick said, squeezing David’s hand. David smiled at him and they walked for a few minutes in a comfortable silence. 

“Oh look, ice cream,” David exclaimed, pulling Patrick across the street to the brightly colored ice cream shop that stood at the corner. Patrick grinned fondly, letting David tow him into the shop. They took their ice cream into the square and sat on one of the benches near a fountain. It was early evening now and the light was softer. Today had been a lot better than going to the tax seminar, Patrick thought. He and David spent most of their time together, but having a day without any responsibilities was a rare treat.

“Where do you want to go for dinner?” David asked, minutes after they had finished their ice cream.

“We just had ice cream,” Patrick said, fondly.

“So?”

Amused, Patrick shook his head. “How about the new Italian place?”

Elmdale’s restaurants could be a bit hit or miss, but the Tuscan Bistro turned out to be pretty good. Even David was forced to admit that their hand-rolled pasta was delicious. The sun was setting as they began the drive home.

“I’m not sure what makes it Tuscan, though? Was the Italian Bistro too generic of a name?” David complained as Patrick laughed at him, reaching out to place his hand on David’s thigh. He squeezed David’s leg gently, not really listening as David continued to detail the difference between Tuscan and Italian cuisine. He glanced over at David and smiled. David caught his eye and smiled back, leaving his hand on top of Patrick’s for the rest of the drive home.

***

Monday was Patrick’s day off. He was part way through his book when his phone buzzed with texts from David.

**10:34 am: What the fuck!**  
**10:35 am: What did you do!**

Patrick smirked to himself and responded.

10:36 am: What’s the matter?

There was no response until about half an hour later when his phone buzzed again.

**11:04 am: You had better be on your way to the store!**

Laughing to himself, Patrick grabbed his keys and headed down to the store. When he walked in the front door he could see that the items he’d ordered had arrived. Surrounded by three empty boxes and a stack of tissue paper and bubble wrap were three of the bedazzled plungers. David, a look of horror and outrage on his face, stood behind the store counter with his arms crossed.

“Oh good, I see that the products that I ordered are here,” Patrick said as David glared at him.

David was about to respond when the bell over the door rang, announced the arrival of the delivery man. He held a small box in one hand. 

“David Rose? This is for you.”

“I don’t want it,” David replied. “I’m refusing delivery. No more boxes today, thanks.”

“Sorry, buddy, you’ll have to take it back to the post office if you don’t want it.”

With a huff, David signed for the parcel before turning back to Patrick. 

“You better have a good reason for this! And, that delivery person just called me ‘buddy’! You can’t honestly expect that we’re going to sell these...things....in our store!” David waved his arms, knocking two of the plungers off the counter. 

“I know how much you object to our usual plungers, so I thought these would have more merchandising appeal,” Patrick replied, struggling to keep the grin off his face. “Aren’t you going to open the new parcel?”

“I don’t want it,” David repeated. “Who knows what other sort of tacky products you’ve ordered!”

“C’mon David, how can you be annoyed with me if you don’t know what it is?”

“Fine.” 

David tore open the box to reveal a small wooden jewelry box wrapped in bubble wrap. Suspiciously, he pulled it out of the cardboard box and looked at Patrick.

“Am I going to regret opening this?”

“I hope not,” Patrick’s voice was suddenly soft and he moved to stand in front of David. David’s eyes were still narrowed, but a small smile had started to creep across his face. Slowly, he opened the box. Inside was a wide-band silver ring. David inhaled sharply and he looked at Patrick. Patrick reached up to put his hands on David’s shoulders and looked into David’s black eyes. They were even darker than normal and Patrick could feel David trembling slightly beneath his hands.

“You make me happier than I’ve ever been.” His voice was shaking and he had to pause for a moment to take a breath. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you. David, will you marry me?”

Before David could answer, the bell on the door rang and Roland came into the store. Patrick didn’t know whether to laugh or shout at him and a quick look at David’s face showed that he was feeling the same way. Naturally, Roland appeared to be oblivious to the moment.

“Hi Dave, I wanted to get more of that foot cream...check out these plungers! It’s great to see you finally getting some better quality items into your store!”

“Tell you what Roland,” David said in slightly strangled voice. “If you take all three of them, I’ll let you have them for $20.”

“Can I get a discount on the foot cream too? You know, as a repeat customer.”

“Fine, $30 for everything, provided you leave our store in the next 30 seconds.”

“Always a pleasure doing business with you. Let me know when you have more quality items for sale.” Roland replied as he gathered up the plungers and the foot cream and left the store.

They stared at the door for a moment before Patrick moved from behind the counter and turned the lock. He turned to find David holding the ring box in both hands as though he wasn’t sure what to do with it. 

“David?” he said quietly, a small note of worry in his voice.

“I…” David swallowed sharply, bringing one hand to his mouth, his eyes bright. 

“Yes.” he said softly as he moved forward to wrap his arms around Patrick, the wooden box clenched in one hand.

“Yes, I will marry you,” he whispered fiercely in Patrick’s ear. Patrick laughed softly and hugged David tightly until he felt him start to let go. He leaned back so that he could look David in the eye before kissing him gently. David sighed happily and returned his kiss. As they pulled apart, Patrick reached over and tugged the box out of David’s hand, taking the ring out and sliding it onto David’s left hand. He laughed happily to see it on David’s finger and pressed a kiss to the palm of his hand.

“I love you, David.”

“I love you, too.”

They stood together for a moment, arms around each other before Patrick went to unlock the door. 

“We do have a business to run,” he said. “And, since it’s my day off, I’m going home. Don’t forget to clean up all this packing material, it’s not a very good aesthetic for our store.”

David huffed at him in annoyance, but he was smiling. 

“And don’t forget to reorder those plungers.” Patrick said over his shoulder as he went out the door. “After all, we just sold three of them.”

**Author's Note:**

> Something to tide everyone over while we wait to see if there is a real proposal in a couple of weeks. 
> 
> Bedazzled plungers are an actual thing that was being sold at one of the craft fairs in my town. I wasn’t quite as horrified as David to see them, but maybe close.


End file.
